TSB EG-0127T-1014 (SW update to avoid cylinderhead gasket failure)

Techstream ($10,000 plus subscription fees) falls into my definition of a fancy OBD scanner. I've got a $40 bluetooth adapter, and an Android phone with a couple of free apps.

That's what I thought about the "shop supplies". Maybe it's what they used to do their inspection I never asked for. Maybe it was the lubricated condom so I didn't feel it when they screwed me.

I guess I'll fire up my adapter, and see what comes out of the phone when I look at it.

 

I found a free OBD2 app that works to get the CALID parameter out of the ECU. I wish I would have done this before scheduling an appointment. I would have been better positioned to know whether I needed this before spending the money, what was available, and whether they actually did the upgrade.

 

The Car Scanner app reads calibration ids for the ecu, bcm and immobilizer. For the rest of the systems it provides a four digit “part number”.



The European tsb adds credence to the thermal cycling and pinging when carboned issues, both easily demonstrated.

 

You must be looking at the full bundle that includes the ruggedized laptop and $500 dongle.

Most people other than a real-busy shop are going to pick up their own beater Windows laptop to download the software on, buy a decent dongle, and just pay a short-term subscription as needed. No need to scare 'em off with a wackadoodle price for something else.

 

There are options to have a full Techstream with online library and ecu reprogramming

1. Toyota sells a Techstream Lite package for $1645 which is a discounted bundle of the Mongoose dongle ($545) and a year of Professional ($1360) level software. You supply a Win 10 laptop.

Professional Diagnostic level is required to access and program the ecu file which is the center of this thread’s discussion.

2. One might think the $545 dongle alone or equivalent and a $70 two day subscription could work.

3. You have the dongle and buy the $70 subscription.

The question then becomes do you want to risk bricking the ecu versus letting a dealer do it for $150 or perhaps finding an independent Toyota shop who has the access and equipment.

 

I don't think I'd be worried about bricking anything just by doing a query for what calibration ID is already in there.

I'd worry more about using the setup to actually try flashing the update. But I didn't think that was the question.

I definitely go to the dealer when I want an update flashed, just so they can be the ones who get to worry about that.

 

Posts 82 and 83 already provided low cost apps for reading the calibration id.

Car Scanner App
Partial

 

My procrastination monster got hit this morning too!

I came to my Toyota dealer for inspection and oil change, but talked to them about the update, sent them the TSB before.

They did the update and I could watch!

The guy told me that there actually are no indications in my car to update, he will do it at my own risk
If something happens to the car, I take the responsibility if I insist on updating.

I insisted and kept my fingers crossed.

Scary moments, as hi did actually nothing to remedy, for example, a bad 12V battery and bricking the car, if it dies in the middle of updating...

It went well.

I have now an updated software in my engine computer and will observe its behavior.
Till now, I did not notice _any_ differences (i drove only something about 30 km).

Mat

PS.
A European Prius.
Previous ID: 34717200
New ID: 34717500
The "Calibration Verification Number - ECM-EngineControl" changed too.

 

That news does not please me, as (at least here in the US) Toyota has released a sequence of TSBs laying out increasingly stringent precautions for reflashing. The latest one that I know of (it is hard to keep up!) is T-SB-0134-16 Rev2, which includes this list:



I try to remember to pull my own fuses for electrical accessories I have added before driving in, as the dealer technicians would not know about them.

 

Oh boy!

Good, that I did not know about most of these precautions!

Now I can say, he dit it "without hands"

My 12V battery is _not_the_best_ - this is, why I kept my fingers crossed...

The AC was off (I switch it usually off before turning the ignition off), but navigation was on.
The hood was closed, the temperature thereunder was below 70 degrees C for sure.
No parking brake.
Maybe he checked the SOC via TechStream - maybe.
No DCA-8000

But - it went OK!
I doubt, he is doing the job for the first time, so, possibly the precautions are _very_ conservative?

Now, as I know, how it should be done, I will think twice, before I let them do anything like updating on my car...

Mat

 

I'm sure the recommendations are conservative.

One big attraction of letting them do the work, whether they follow the conservative precautions or not, is if the ECU doesn't work when they're done, they have the honor of supplying a new one.

 

That is tempting, but, he told me, he is doing this on my responsibility, so I would first have to prove, that it was not the update itself, that caused problems.
Not so good starting position.
Thank God everything went well...

Mat

 

Interesting reading after having replaced my kids 2011 engine. First some houses popping off and stalling the car, those did not have retainers/clamps so I put some there so it can be driven home. Months later, I read about the EGR cleaning stuff, so we did that, and replaced the PCV valve, now less rough starting and driving. But I am thinking that excessive pressure popping off the hoses probably already damaged the infamous gasket, because 2 months later after the cleaning, cylinder 1 and I think 2 showed up as misfire with the check engine. I cleared the codes thinking may be a damaged cable or loose connections while we did the cleaning, but they returned, and 2 weeks later the engine exploded. I did clean the EGR stuff maintenance to my 2013, the one in my profile picture, before the 2011 to get experience if that was something my kids can perform. Just did the leak test with the blue liquid turning yellow and it is negative on both. But now reading about the reflashing to improve the behavior of the water pump, added additional tasks to be worried i would need to do. I have the BT dongle and the pirate techstream cable version, so I may be able to look at the calibration numbers. But my questions are:

1. Is there reports of 2014 or 2015 with exploded engines or damaged gaskets too? If we assume Toyota implemented the pump algorithm improvement to fix this issue maybe the number of failures for those years were reduced.
2. Can we just bypass any ECM logic and just supply voltage to the pump to always be running? I guess speed is controlled by voltage so just connecting it to ACC can work. ( I know is not that simple)

I don't believe the real root causes could be determined by us, so applying corrective measures like EGR stuff cleaning or ECU reflashing is just looking for the best shot we can do to address root causes that we are not able to validate.

"Knowledge makes people unhappy, so it is better being ignorant and happy."

 

There's a nine-year-old TSB about updating the ECM firmware to avoid the backfires that blow those hoses off (and sometimes clobber the purge valve).

The firmware version ("calibration ID") containing that fix is earlier than the one mentioned in the manifold and EGR TSBs, so I am hopeful that by updating to the later revision, I also have the backfire fix.

The pump gets full voltage all the time at its power terminal, and by design you send a waveform to its speed-control terminal, and the % of time the wave is high (the "duty cycle") determines the speed. In practice, you can sometimes get away with sending a fixed, intermediate voltage to that kind of controller; if you wire it high, that's 100% duty cycle and you get full speed.

The two issues that might be more challenging: (1) what's the effect on MPG of having that pump at full power all the time?, and (2) how long can the pump even run at continuous full power without failure?

 

Or the other way 'round?

What was the miles when you did that? Did you clean everything thoroughly, including the EGR passages in the intake manifold?

That tests for carbon monoxide in the coolant, which tends not to be the way the head gasket fails, at least in the early stages. More likely to allow coolant to leak, usually into cylinders one or two.

I doubt a programming change will help.

I've got a hunch what's causing it.